FOOD WRITING*
An enthusiastic eater my whole life, I’m also endlessly curious about where food, history, and culture come together and love exploring that through writing.
I also write and maintain two blogs: a tea blog (food adjacent) and a behind-the-scenes set decorating blog (not related to food at all, but my day job as a set decorator).
Here’s a collection of published food writing clips:
For Smithsonian Magazine: “What Emoji Tell Us About the History of Tea” 2023
🍵☕ How these two emoji illuminate tea history
A fun premise I was so happy to write for Smithsonian Magazine about how the surprising history of green tea’s dominance.
How in many Western countries like America when we think “tea” we think ☕, but for most of history around the world (including in America!) tea has meant 🍵 (green tea from China and Japan).
For Whetstone Magazine’s W Journal: “It’s Time to Decolonize Tea,” 2020.
My dream piece to write
all the big thoughts I’ve wrestled with about tea and contemplated for the last 10 years. I read three academic books to provide more context to my thoughts and integrated it all here.
Thank you to Whetstone Magazine for giving me a place to articulate them all—it feels like the perfect home for this article which is a deep expression of my inner self.
For Bon Appetit’s Healthyish: “When I Couldn't Be With My Sister After Childbirth, We Practiced Zuo Yue Zi From Afar,” 2020
IN BON APPETIT!!!!!!
Even though I’ve published a few things before (see below) this feels like my first real published essay.
It is about cooking the traditional Chinese postpartum zuo yue zi foods for my sister when she gave birth during peak NYC Covid epicenter times.
It is a dream come true to work with great editors and have it published to share with others.
Recounted a Two Year Quest…
The theme is MSG, and this is about that but it is really about living and working in Dhaka, Bangladesh and connecting to my Bangladeshi coworkers through food.
you can read a PDF version of it here.
Contributed my Popo’s recipe
to this really cool and fun community cookbook put together by Slant’d where I got to share an iconic recipe in our family.
Featuring beautiful illustrations from Felicia Liang and 8% of all proceeds go to Heart of Dinner.
Published by All-You-Can-Eat-Press,
I co-authored this with my sister.
first published in 2016, it is on its second printing updated in 2018.
You can buy it in all sorts of fancy places and real bookstores and even GOOP recommended it!
I worked on this on weekends and in between set decorating gigs!
I wrote a profile of Wilson Tang
(the guy behind the revival of Nom Wah Tea Parlor) “Mr. Chinatown” for Banana Magazine’s second issue.
I also did this on nights and weekends while working in set decorating.
“All the Tea in China“ China Heritage Quarterly, April 2012
OC Weekly, 2002 I wrote about a local Pakistani grocery store that was also a Bollywood video rental center, when I interned here one semester in college. Someday I’ll find it and link it.
Hungry Boston, 2001 I contributed to this published restaurant guide. I don’t remember what I wrote (this was 20 years ago!), but it was in a real book sold in bookstores!
MetroChina, 2000 when I was studying abroad in Beijing, I pitched an article about the best popsicles available in the corner convenience stores around Beijing, and they published it! I don’t know how I’m going to find this clip to digitize.
APPEARANCES ON FOOD PODCASTS**
Global History of Tea and Tea How To’s to Improve Your Cup of Tea
Got to chat with Alison Stewart about the global history of tea and many enthusiastic WNYC callers about how to improve your tea drinking experience.
Cooking Zuo Yue Zi postpartum foods
Had the great honor to discuss the Bon Appetit essay I wrote with Evan on air and it was the first time I ever heard anyone refer to me as a “food writer.”
Gentile Passover
In the episode “other people’s holidays” my sister and I invite Dan to join our annual tradition of celebrating Passover even though we aren’t Jewish.
Taiwanese oolong in Thailand
Such a treat to go back to KCRW Good Food and share this story about tea in Maesalong, Thailand that I stumbled upon and then spent a lot of time researching because it is such a fascinating story.
I also wrote the whole winding story of the tea in Maesalong here for the Tranquil Tuesdays blog.
Chinese and Japanese Green Teas
It was such a thrill to visit the KCRW studios and talk to my favorite food podcast about the differences of Chinese and Japanese green teas. A real dream come true!
*I know it is a little weird to have this writing portfolio here on my set decorating website, but I didn’t really know where else to put it.
** I realize podcast appearances are not exactly Food Writing but again, didn’t really know where else to put these and they felt somewhat relevant.